Infection by pathogens, such as bacteria, yeast, parasites, fungus, and viruses, and the onset and spread of cancer present serious health concerns for all animals, including humans, farm livestock, and household pets. These health threats are exacerbated by the rise of strains that are resistant to vaccination and/or treatment. In the past, practitioners of pharmacology have relied on traditional methods of drug discovery to generate safe and efficacious compounds for the treatment of these diseases. Traditional drug discovery methods typically involve blindly testing potential drug candidate-molecules, often selected at random, in the hope that one might prove to be an effective treatment for some disease. With the advent of molecular biology, however, the focus of drug discovery has shifted to the identification of molecular targets associated with the etiological agent and the design of compounds that interact with these molecular targets.
One promising class of molecular targets are the receptors found on the surface of bacteria, yeast, parasites, fungus, viruses, and cancer cells, especially receptors that allow for attachment to a host cell or host protein (e.g., an extracellular matrix protein). Research in this area primarily focuses on the identification of the receptor and its ligand and the discovery of molecules that interrupt the interaction of the ligand with the receptor and, thereby, block adhesion to the host cell or protein. Although several receptor antagnosists have promising therapeutic potential, there still remains a need for new compositions and methods to treat and prevent infection by pathogens and other diseases.